Secret Uncovered

Secret Uncovered

While in the library studying, Remus thought he saw a familiar dark shape peering around the corner. It seemed that everywhere he looked lately, he caught a glimpse of Severus. It was almost as though the Slytherin was following them, spying on them.

Of course, he couldn’t really blame Severus. Sirius and James had stepped up their retaliation. Severus had been randomly hexing them for months. Remus knew he should stop them, but they were justified in their revenge, right? He couldn’t even remember how the feud had started. He didn’t mention this to the others, trying to protect Severus.

**********

Sirius leaned across the common room table and whispered. “Snivellus has been hanging around a lot. I think he’s spying on us.”

“What for?” asked Remus.

“To get us in trouble. He’s jealous. I’ll teach him a lesson.” Sirius grinned mischievously.

“Haven’t you done enough to him already?” asked Remus.

“Moony, this is Snivellus, you can never do to much to him,” added James.

“You aren’t going to hurt him?”

“Naw. Just scare him a little. Don’t worry.”

Remus could help but worry after seeing the grin on Sirius’ face and resigned himself to keeping an eye on his friend.

**********

“Hey, Sni… Severus!” called Sirius.

“What do you want?” snapped Snape, levelling his wand at Sirius.

“Whoa! Wand down. I’m not here to cause trouble. I’ve just noticed you following us around. I figured you might want to know what we’re up to.”

“Why would you tell me?” he asked suspiciously.

Sirius shrugged. “If you don’t want to know… I just thought we could stop fighting, and as a goodwill gesture, I’ll tell you about this amazing secret passage we found.”

Intrigued, Snape asked, “What passage?”

“Well, it’s under the Willow, and you can only open it during full moon…”

**********

“You did what?” shouted James.

“It’s just Snivellus. It’ll teach him to leave us alone.”

“Moony might kill him… or turn him into a werewolf.” He was aghast.

“Come on, this is Snivellus. It’ll just rid us of one more Dark wizard. You know he’ll turn.”

“Yeah? What happens to us? Do you think Dumbledore could turn a blind eye to that? And what about Remus? He’d be expelled! Do you ever think?” James ran out of the dormitory and toward the Whomping Willow, hoping he wasn’t too late. Sirius had been reckless before, but this was going too far.

**********

Seeing Snape holding the stick, James shouted, “Severus, no!” It was too late. James watched Snape slip under the tree. Sprinting across the lawn, he dove into the tunnel as the tree reanimated.

In the distance, he could see Snape’s wand glowing. Running for all he was worth, James knew he had to catch up. If anything happened to Snape…

He tackled Snape just before he opened the trap door.

Severus struggled. “Let go of me!”

“I can’t let you go in there.”

“Keeping your treasure all to yourself?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, right.”

“There’s a werewolf.”

“But, Lupin…” Comprehension dawned.

**********

The blood drained from Remus’ face.

“Then you knew nothing of this?”

“No, headmaster. I would never want to hurt anyone, not even Snape. I knew Sirius wanted to teach him a lesson…”

Dumbledore wrapped an arm around Remus’ shoulder. “I know the young do many cruel things. Sirius is being severely punished for his poor judgment.”

“And I’ll be expelled?”

“Of course not, you did nothing wrong. I have explained the situation to Severus, and he has agreed not to reveal your secret. New precautions will be added to ensure no one can reach you while you are transformed.”

**********

Guilt weighing heavily on his conscience, Remus sought out Severus. After two days, he got Severus alone. “I want to apologize…”

“Do you think your apology means anything to me? I know how you feel about me. The only thing you’re sorry about is that your plan didn’t succeed,” Severus snapped bitterly.

“That’s not fair! I have never hurt anyone, not even you…”

“Not directly, but how many times have you stopped your friends from attacking me? I don’t want your apology, or your pity. If you don’t leave me alone, I may change my mind about keeping your secret.”

**********

A/N: Thanks again to those that have reviewed. The muses very much appreciate hearing your thoughts. I know the story seems rushed, but I thought this would be a good way to look at the major moments of Remus' time at Hogwarts. Hopefully, you are finding that all the characters are staying in character, though getting across nuances in so few words is very difficult.

One more chapter to go and it should be up soon.